


Beef Bowl Deathmatch

by akisazame



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Gen, Video Game Mechanics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-01-25
Updated: 2009-01-25
Packaged: 2018-02-24 13:23:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2582963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akisazame/pseuds/akisazame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Chie had first told Yosuke about Chinese Diner Aiya's Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge a few weeks after he'd moved to Inaba, he'd written it off entirely as a waste of time and money.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Beef Bowl Deathmatch

When Chie had first told Yosuke about Chinese Diner Aiya's Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge a few weeks after he'd moved to Inaba, he'd written it off entirely as a waste of time and money. Chie had described it as "a great challenge for true meat lovers," and then confessed that she'd only managed to finish it once. Even at the time, when he hadn't known Chie as well, he knew that this marked the beef bowl as a force to be reckoned with. 3000 yen was simply a price that was too steep to pay for a bowl of meat that even Chie couldn't finish, especially when he was still trying to save up for his motorcycle.

Souji had invited him to share lunch on the roof on the day that he brought up the Rainy Day Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. "You seriously went to try that?" Yosuke asked, incredulous; he knew that Souji worked a lot of part time jobs, but he didn't realize he was so wasteful with the resulting money.

His friend shrugged, apparently thinking it was no big deal. "I thought it'd be fun. Didn't realize it'd be that big, though."

"Well, yeah, that's why they call it a challenge," Yosuke replied, taking another bite of the fried chicken Souji had made. Why the hell would the guy want to go to Aiya when he could cook stuff like this? It left Yosuke completely baffled. "How close did you get to finishing?"

Souji looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe halfway? Two-thirds?"

"So, not close at all," Yosuke said with a smirk. "I'm telling you, that thing is impossible. The only reason Chie finished it is because her stomach is a black hole."

"You telling me it's impossible only makes me want to try it again," Souji answered, shooting his friend a sideways smile. "And I'm going to make you come with me."

Yosuke blinked, chicken leg frozen in transit to his mouth. "Uh, what?"

"You heard me!" Souji said with a laugh. "The only thing better than a challenge is a competition."

Somehow, after only knowing each other for a couple of months, Souji had already figured out how to press Yosuke's buttons. The idea of a competition was definitely intriguing. "Okay, you're on! But let's raise the stakes. The loser has to pay for _both_ beef bowls. Assuming the winner doesn't finish, of course."

"Deal," Souji replied, half-smirking. He already had this in the bag.

\---

They didn't have long to wait before a challenge opportunity arose; two days later, a small rain storm moved in over Inaba, just long enough to last the day. Yosuke grinned to himself as he checked the forecast that morning, skipping breakfast so that his stomach would be ready. While riding his bike to school, he realized that this probably hadn't been the best plan; it was hard enough as it was to keep his balance on his broken-down old bike, and feeling weak from hunger wasn't especially helping. But it was for a worthy cause! He couldn't back down now! Besides, he barely had 6000 yen to his name until his next paycheck, so he quite literally couldn't afford to lose.

Souji was already in his seat when Yosuke trudged into the classroom, and the way the silver-haired boy smirked at him as he entered was more than enough confirmation that the competition was indeed on. Yosuke grinned back, but also felt a wave of relief; he would have felt like an idiot if he'd skipped breakfast for no reason.

The two of them stayed in the classroom during lunch, neither one eating; Souji was studying his history notes, but Yosuke couldn't concentrate on anything. He wasn't a ravenous eater by any means, nothing like Chie, but he still felt off whenever he skipped a meal. Now that he'd skipped two, he was starting to feel a little dizzy, unable to keep his eyes focused. _It'll all be worth it when I win,_ he kept telling himself. _None of this pansy "if" stuff, because I'm definitely gonna kick Souji's ass._ He shot a glance at his friend, but the other boy was completely absorbed in his notes like some kind of studying machine. How the hell did he have the energy to study? Yosuke could barely keep his eyes open.

It felt like their afternoon classes lasted an eternity. Yosuke couldn't pay attention at all, partially because of his lack of focus, and partially because he had to channel what energy he did have into keeping his stomach from growling in the middle of class. He jumped up even faster than usual when Kashiwagi declared class was dismissed, and strode over to Souji's desk with a grin on his face. "Ready to get squashed, partner?"

Souji glanced at his best friend nonchalantly. "I think I should be asking you that."

On any other day, Yosuke would have offered Souji a ride on his bike, but he didn't even think he could balance _himself_ on the thing, let alone another person. Not wanting to admit his weakness, however, he claimed that one of the tires was low on air. The two of them walked to the shopping district instead, Yosuke wheeling the bike alongside him, constantly taunting one another as they went. When they finally arrived at Chinese Diner Aiya, the place was much less crowded than usual, probably due to the increasing number of people who had sworn off the Mega Beef Bowl Challenge. The two of them took seats side by side at the counter, each glaring at the other out of the corners of their eyes before they simultaneously ordered the beef bowl.

Yosuke was so hungry that he thought his stomach was going to leap out of his body and start devouring the food on the other side of the counter of its own accord. He hadn't felt like this since the camping trip, when Mystery Food X had caused him to have to enjoy a delicious dinner of animal crackers (which he then got berated for eating). When the giant beef bowls were placed in front of them, Yosuke had his chopsticks ready and waiting, poised to strike, and he started cramming food into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.

When he glanced over at Souji, though, he was surprised to see his friend eating at his usual leisurely pace. What the hell? This was a competition, dammit! He should be taking this seriously! But then again, it's not like they were racing to see who could finish first; it was a test to see who could finish _at all._ Feeling kind of stupid for making himself out to be some kind of pig, Yosuke forced himself to slow down, even though he was still hungry. The only reason to rush would be to give him more time to savor his victory.

Fifteen minutes passed, and both boys were still eating, the bottoms of their bowls nowhere in sight. After Yosuke's fevered food-cramming session at the beginning, he was easily in the lead by quite a large margin. Even so, he had been getting progressively slower for the last couple of minutes, while Souji was still going at the same pace as he had been the entire time. Was the guy a machine? What the hell was his deal? Yosuke paused a moment, tapping out a rhythm on the rim of his bowl with his chopsticks. "Getting full yet, partner?"

Souji looked over at Yosuke and blinked a few times, as if he'd been broken out of some kind of perfect zen state of beef bowl eating. Then he just shrugged and went back to his food. Yosuke rolled his eyes and tried to focus on eating too, but he'd lost his momentum. What the hell, was this bowl some kind of bottomless pit? Who could possibly eat this much meat _ever,_ let alone in one sitting? Besides Chie, anyway. He was on the border between normal full and oh-god-so-full-going-to-explode. How the hell was Souji still eating? Maybe Chie had given him tips or something. He was pretty sure that was cheating.

Another five minutes passed, and while Souji kept steadily eating mouthful after mouthful of beef and rice, Yosuke was reduced to trying to force himself to consume just one more strip of meat, over and over, telling himself that this one was going to be the last one, really and truly. It was the only way he could keep himself from just giving up. He couldn't give up! Not when he was so close! Well, okay, so he wasn't close at all, but...

"Man, I'm full," Souji said suddenly, setting down his chopsticks and stretching his arms over his head. "Guess I'm still not good enough to master the beef bowl. How'd you do, Yosuke?"

Yosuke sat up straighter on his stool, trying not to look as utterly defeated as he felt. After all, Souji hadn't finished the whole thing either. "Oh, you know, I might've been able to eat more, but I guess I was still full from dinner last night." A lame excuse, and a total lie at that; he'd been practically starving to death when they got there. He hoped that Souji wouldn't call him on it.

"Well, let's compare," Souji said, pushing his bowl until it clinked against Yosuke's. With the two of them together like that, Yosuke was surprised to see that the amount of food left in each one was very nearly the same. Very nearly, except Souji's was the tiniest bit lower.

"Aww man!" Yosuke exclaimed, loud enough for other customers to look at him in surprise. He sighed and reluctantly reached into his back pocket for his wallet; he dreaded the thought of having to make it until his next paycheck on about 500 yen. "Totally lame. Seriously, partner, how the hell did you pull that off? You didn't ask Chie, did you?"

Souji shrugged, a thoughtful look on his face. "Diligence, I guess. I suppose I still need more courage, though."

Yosuke blinked. "What the hell does that mean?"


End file.
